Helmuth Raithel (9 April 1907 – 12 September 1990) was a German officer who held the rank of SS-Standartenführer (colonel) in the Waffen-SS during World War II.

While still at school, Raithel was swept up in the excitement of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch of 9 November 1923 led by Adolf Hitler, and was subsequently awarded the coveted Blood Order, even though he was not a member of the Nazi Party.

After World War II broke out, he fought in the invasion of Greece in summer 1941, then against the Soviet Red Army in northern Finland before transferring to the Waffen-SS in 1943.

Raithel subsequently commanded a regiment of the newly formed 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) and led it during fighting against the Yugoslav Partisans in the Independent State of Croatia.

Born Helmuth Hans Walter Paul Raithel in Ingolstadt, Kingdom of Bavaria, a federated state of the German Empire, on 9 April 1907, he was the second son of a Bavarian Army officer.

On 9 November 1923 at the age of 16, Raithel was walking his bicycle in Munich when he stumbled across the Beer Hall Putsch being led by Adolf Hitler.

Now part of the Gebirgs Brigade, Raithel gained experience as a signals officer and company commander, and was promoted to Hauptmann (captain).

In August 1942 he was transferred to the Oberkommando des Heeres (Army Headquarters) reserve pool for an extended period, during which he returned to the mountain infantry school then served briefly with the 133rd Fortress Division on Crete.

[2] He was immediately appointed to command a regiment of the newly formed 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian), the rank-and-file of which were mostly Bosnian Muslims.

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler saw this task as critical to the safeguarding of important agricultural areas and Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) settlements in the Syrmia region to the north.

In early January 1945, the division was located around Pirmasens near the French-Reich border, reeling from their losses in what was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front, Operation Nordwind.

[3] Committed to a series of desperate counterattacks against the United States Army XV Corps, on one occasion Raithel's regiment infiltrated the American positions, surrounding five US infantry companies and taking 450 prisoners of war.

The commander of one of the US battalions they fought in January 1945 ruefully described Raithel's regiment as, "the best men we ever ran into, extremely aggressive, and impossible to capture.

[14] After a quiet period in February 1945 absorbing replacements, the division was withdrawn from the defensive line and ordered to recapture Trier from the US Army.

This attack started on 7 March in freezing conditions but after limited success a fresh US offensive struck the division and forced them back north of Mainz.